What can Apple Watch do?

Many smartphone users nowadays do not wear a watch. To them the function of time telling in a traditional watch has been replaced by their iPhone or Android phone. As of right now, there is not any major use case that makes a smart watch a lifestyle changing necessity . This is partly the reason why there is a $17,000 Apple Watch, as Apple is trying to convince you that the Apple Watch is an essential fashion accessory. What can Apple Watch do besides showing it off to your friends and telling the time?

Apple Watch is a companion device to an iPhone. You need an iPhone in order for it to function meaningfully. Apple Watch is designed as a small screen that is closer to you than a phone in a pocket, that displays short burst of info to you that you care about. With Apple Watch you can answer phone call from your iPhone, interact with Siri, answer your messages/chats or receive notifications from apps. Instead of drawing out your iPhone from a bag, you can use Apple Watch as the scanning device when paying with Apple Pay. Apple Watch will also alert you to be active if you’ve been idle for too long.

During the recent “Spring Forward” March media event, Apple’s Kevin Lynch was on stage to showcase some possibilities with Apple Watch with demo of third party apps. Fast forward to about 1:08 to watch the demo.

During the demo, Apple Watch is shown to summon a Uber, receive boarding pass and barcode to unlock airport gate, act as door key to hotel room, and remotely control your home’s garage door. It appears that what Apple Watch can do is limited by the imagination of app developers. Will Apple be able to convince you to add a daily-charging-required watch into your lifestyle?